Hendrix's burnt guitar fetches $600,000
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Jimi Hendrix's 1965 Fender Stratocaster is shown to the media in London. (Getty Images: Gareth Cattermole)
The first guitar that rock legend Jimi Hendrix burned on stage has fetched 280,000 pounds ($604,000) at an auction in London.
Also sold was the first management contract signed by The Beatles on January 24, 1962, which bears the names "John Winston Lennon", "George Harrison", "James Paul McCartney" and "Richard Starkey" (Ringo Starr).
Hendrix set the 1965 Fender Stratocaster alight - a gesture he later became famous for - following a landmark performance at London's Finsbury Astoria in March 1967, and had to be taken to hospital to be treated for minor hand injuries afterward.
At that point, the guitar was taken to the offices of his aide Tony Garland, and was kept at Garland's parents' garage in Hove in southern England, before Garland's nephew unearthed it in 2007.
Ted Owen, director of acquisitions at the Fame Bureau rock memorabilia firm, which organised the sale, described Hendrix's act as "a watershed in live performance".
"He raised the bar of what could be expected and paved the way for a series of imitations and pastiche that exist to this day," Mr Owen said.
Daniel Boucher, the 51-year-old American collector who bought the guitar, said it "changed music".
"Obviously it is an investment, it couldn't not be an investment for that amount of money, but I bought it because I like it."
He said he would have the guitar converted for right-hand playing - Hendrix was left-handed - so that he could play it himself.
The contract signed by The Beatles, meanwhile, fetched 240,000 pounds ($518,000) at the auction, and also bears the names of Harrison's father Harold and McCartney's dad James as their sons were under the age of 21.
Manager Brian Epstein added his name on October 1, 1962, after getting the fab four a deal with EMI for the release of Love Me Do.
Mr Owen described the document as "the most important music contract of all time" which "completely changed the lives of The Beatles".
"There's no other (contract) that's going to be historically, socially or politically as important as this," he said.
Also in the auction was Jim Morrison's last notebook, which contains lyrics, poetry and musings from The Doors frontman, fingerprints of Elvis on a gun permit and the Bechstein piano used by The Beatles to record one of their biggest hits, Hey Jude.
-AFP
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Comments (25)
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HeyJoe:
05 Sep 2008 11:37:21am
Wow. Just think what Hendrix's guitar could have been worth had he not set fire to it!
But I always said The Beatles were a flash in the pan -- half of them are dead already.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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back yarder:
05 Sep 2008 12:09:34pm
If Hendrix had not set fire to his guitar it wouldnt be worth as much. he played dozens of guitars throughout his career and the burnt one is the most famous and the most valuable - its all about provenance.
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Jobber:
05 Sep 2008 1:25:38pm
Yep, you can get a new one much cheaper.
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fleabitten:
05 Sep 2008 11:42:54am
Although Hendrix was left handed I always thought he played right handed guitars that were strung right handed - though I have sometimes been known to be wrong (especially on Fridays)
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jaguar:
05 Sep 2008 12:06:24pm
The guitar picture (burnt) is a right handed guitar. Note the lead input and the controls, cut away etc. My eyesight is not good enough to confirm the string arrangement, but it appears to be strung left handed, that is, bass string at the top.
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Chips McGravy:
05 Sep 2008 1:40:05pm
Hendrix had right handed guitars strung upside down.
the guy is foolish if he converts it so he can play it himself.
It's a collectible because it's Hendrix's, and exaclty as Hendrix last used it. If he converts it so he can indulge his own rock star fantasy in my opinion it would lose a lot of its value.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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David Keig:
05 Sep 2008 12:07:52pm
I saw Hendrix in his last concert at the IOW. He made all the acts tame or 'try hard'. Yep, he was of a different breed.
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dragon:
05 Sep 2008 12:39:40pm
Just another example of death elevating an ordinary talent to an extraordinary level !
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thelonenut:
05 Sep 2008 12:54:05pm
Hardly "an ordinary talent". Dragon, you are either not very knowledgable in matters James Marshall Hendrix, or have an "axe" to grind with The Brother From Another Planet - either way, you are entitled to your opinion, however I think it is misguided. Jimi Hendrix revolutionised the use of studi techniques in rock music, his "Electric Ladyland" LP being a stunning , seminal work, with sounds on it that seem to have been created by angels or aliens. And I won't even go into his absolutely amazing guitar playing, because the English language does not contain enough superlatives to describe this mans talent and creativity and soul. Not only that, Jimi was a wonderful and gentle soul with the mind and heart of a poet comparable to the best of the ancients.
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Chris:
05 Sep 2008 1:02:38pm
An extraordinary talent like Jimi Hendrix comes along so rarely, maybe the world may never see the likes of him again. I could go on about his lyrical composition and how his choice of words and language give so much of an insight into the human condition that it is unbelieveable that a person so young could author those words. The man was a musical genius on so many levels.
I was lucky enough to see "A tribute to Jimi Hendrix" at the Guitar festival last year in Adelaide. At this festival some of the world's top guitar players gave their interpretations of Jimi Hendrix music. I am certain that they and most others would vehemently disagree with your assessment of Jimi Hendrix's abilities.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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dragon:
05 Sep 2008 1:26:31pm
maybe the world may never see the likes of him again. ?
Carlos Santana
Joe Satriani
Mark Knopfler
David Gilmour
Eric Clapton
Stevie Ray Vaugn
Brian Setzer
BB King
Chet Atkins
And so many more, I don't have time to put down !
And all thse did it without the drug abuse and hypocracy of the 60's !Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Peter D:
05 Sep 2008 1:37:07pm
Fully agree with you Dragon. All that you have listed are really true legends.
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thelonenut:
05 Sep 2008 1:37:47pm
Eric Clap[ton and Pete Townsend cheerfully agree to this day that Jimi was an amazing talent, and their initial insecurity was replaced by love and admiration and friendship. Mark Knopfles was and even more so now, boring and derivative, and is a shameless copycat of JJ Cale's style of guitar playing. Carlos Santana is a genius, but very limited in his use of the sounds a guitar can make. Stevie Ray Vaughn was OK, but owes a great debt to Jimi, which he regularly acknowledged up until the time of his death .Brian Setzer is an amateur in the company of the others you mention. Joe Satriani is a boring dunderhead with a predictable guitar style .BB King is a genius, and he had a great fondness and respect for Jimi, as did most musicians, past and present. Your list, as you say, is by no means exhaustive - where is Django Reinhardt, another true original . I cannot agree with your assessment of Jimi's talent and influence, but hey, that's life - the world would be a boring place if we all agreed with one another -
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Chris:
05 Sep 2008 1:41:22pm
Sorry Dragon, none of these guys are in the same league as Jimi Hendrix and many of them actually copied him.
..... and Mark Knopfler? ....give me a break!!!
Eric Clapton did it without drug abuse? Please get you facts straight.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Big Yin:
05 Sep 2008 1:49:05pm
Clapton, Gilmour without drug abuse?
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Main Man:
05 Sep 2008 1:51:54pm
Do a bit of research dragon, a couple of legends you have listed (and they are/were legends) Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn both were self admitted addicts.
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cpk:
05 Sep 2008 1:09:34pm
jimi hendrix is a guitar legend.
he made a mark in the world for the ear peircing, gut wrenching guitar solo's.
the guitar should have gone to a museum for musical memorabilia, not to a private collector.
jimi hendrix is a name that will live in history for decades to come.
but then come to think of it, that guitar would look pretty sweet in my pool shed, daniel should donate it to me...Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Main Man:
05 Sep 2008 1:30:48pm
This is the equivelant of Mozarts piano.
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dragon:
05 Sep 2008 1:38:23pm
WTF !
Will anyone remember who Hendrix was in 100 years ?
His drug abuse and anti-establishment dogma far outlive his music ...... and that's what he'll be remembered for ! ..... Especially on T-shirts :)Agree (0) Alert moderator
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dragon:
05 Sep 2008 12:25:22pm
Daniel Boucher, you should have given the money to a charity !
What an insult to humanity .......... Boooooo !Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Jim Bendfeldt:
05 Sep 2008 12:26:21pm
That's a hell of a lot of cash for ash!
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Rob:
05 Sep 2008 12:40:19pm
I was going to buy it but Nah! I'm a "righty"
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the_linsk:
05 Sep 2008 1:28:59pm
His talent was far from ordinary. I think you will find that his style of guitar playing was innovative and changed the style of electric guitar playing. He was a showman but when he played seriously, it showed an amazing skill and proficiency of the instrument.
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Peter D:
05 Sep 2008 1:19:55pm
Don't see what the fuss is about. Hendrix was an over-rated, drug-addicted buffoon with a speech impediment. He wrote little of any significance, did NOT change the face of popular music in his time. He was doing what countless others were doing. He only stood out because of his eccentric dress and behaviour.
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mlad:
05 Sep 2008 1:45:23pm
wait i throught hendrix was left handed and played on on right handed guitars? so why is "daniel boucher" going to change it? and if its an investment why is "daniel boucher" even going to modify it and molest it
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